Nitto Stem Comparison
Periscopa, DirtDrop 8, DirtDrop 10, Tech Std, Tech Dlx, Lugged. Not pictured is the Tallux, but it's the same size as a Tech Std, but has dull-bright finish.
We get asked a lot (once a week or so) how much higher this stem can put the bars compared to that stem. Here are the numbers, but don’t hone in so much on the numbers that you lose the bigger picture.
For instance, higher isn’t better unless you need higher. Albatross bars rarely need highest. Even our lowest is higher than what comes on normal bikes.
On the other hand, to get maximal fantabulous benefits out of the wonderful Moustache H’bar, higher really is better. Shoot for height (use a DirtDrop or Tallux or Technomic Normal).
On one of our bikes, sized by us for you, a Tech Dlx will likely be delightful. In almost all cases you’ll be able to get the bar a couple of centimeters higher than the saddle. And that’s the “shortest” of our stems.
We USED TO sell a funky device called a Stem Riser (get it somewhere else, we're leaving this here for reference). Tho funky it may be, though made by Nitto it is not, it is still a smart and really helpful de-vice that lets you use your ancient and short-quill stem and still get your bars up. Its contribution is listed here, also. Related, we don’t recommend it for super classy bikes, because it looks too funny. But for low- to mid-class bikes you like but don’t love, and are too small but you want to keep, the funky Stem Riser is just the ticket. The maker, Delta, also makes them for threadless rigs that need them even more. We don’t sell those, but maybe your local shop does, and if not you can buy direct from deltacycle.com.
In the chart, we list the shortest stem as “0”, and the other numbers are how much higher in centimeters the bar can get than that. Keep in mind there are other compensating things that aren’t addressed here. Like thickness of bar tape, stem extensions (where there are options), and too many to even shake a stick at in the design of the frame.
| Stem | Height Above Tech Dlx (cm) |
| Stem Riser adds to any of these: | 14.2 |
| Nitto DirtDrop 10 | 8.9 |
| Nitto DirtDrop 8 | 7.2 |
| Nitto Periscopa | 5.9 |
| Nitto Tech Std | 4.1 |
| NEW! Nitto Tallux | 4.1 |
| Bullmoose 150 | 1.9 |
| Bullmoose 200 | 1.9 |
| Riv Lugged (higher min-insert) | 1 |
| Nitto Tech Dlx | 0 |